Little Known Reason for Budget Talk Collapse

“Forced to Read the Bill”

Budget talks between the White House and Congressional Republicans broke down on July 22 due to a “different vision” of the pending legislation. More importantly, President Obama was angered not only by the Republican “cut, cap, and balance” debt reduction plan, but also by the insistence by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) that the President actually read the legislation.

“This is perfectly unfair,” the President was heard to storm at aides behind closed doors. “My old pastor Jeremiah Wright used to call these kinds of demands ‘chutzpah!’ We managed perfectly well for two years without having to read any laws. Now these Republicans want me to read what they write? For that matter, read what I write? I never had to read a thing at Occidental, Columbia, or at Harvard Law School. Good thing, too, because I never understood that sh*t.

“It’s bad enough what has been happening to my eyesight since I took office. My golf game is going to hell. If I have to read hundreds of pages of laws that I sign, I’ll have to get new glasses. Michelle says that I will look like a black version of Eric Cantor, and she’s taking away the cigarettes and milk shakes!”

Asked by reporters about the disagreement over the budget, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that “The President shows leadership by not reading. If you want to read, go join some tea party!”

A bipartisan group of Senators , led by Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), also including Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has pitched in to help. This “Gang of Sick,” representing the oldest members of the U.S. Senate, indicated their willingness to help President Obama with his reading problems. “We remember when Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd were alive,” said Lautenberg, 87. It was tough for those old coots to read just about anything, and let’s just say that our bladders don’t give us a lot of room for endurance. It’s damn hard dragging six-inch thick draft bills to the toilet, especially when you have a walker. Now where was I again . . .?”

Talks may resume this weekend or early next week. “Sasha and Malia have volunteered to help,” said Obama. “I trust their perspective more than anyone’s. Not only can they read stuff for me, but maybe they can help me with my negotiating skills. Former President Carter called me and told me to enlist my girls to help, and I think that is excellent advice.”

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon

Obama Explains NASA Administrator Remarks

President Barack Hussein Obama today explained the embarrassing comments of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who described his “foremost” mission (as given to him by the President), was “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.” The President explained that “I merely want my fellow Muslims to stop using their aeronautical knowledge to fly planes into buildings.” The President also hoped that the “historic contribution to science, math, and engineering would be used for purposes other than blowing up buses, building tunnels for terrorists, or developing weapons of mass destruction.” It is believed that President Obama is using the NASA Administrator as a policy conduit “because it sure beats backing historical allies like Israel and forcing its warring neighbors to make peace.”

White House press spokesman Robert Gibbs expanded on the President’s remarks even more: “The President is setting a good example in science and engineering for the rest of the world. So far, his policies have given us some big numbers in spending and unemployment. We feel like NASA in this regard because the sky is no longer the limit.”

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon.

Guess Who Else Doesn’t Pay Taxes

No Wonder These Clowns Like Obama

Hat tip: Powerline

I always thought that the term “Eurocrat” referred to a bureaucrat in the European Union. Apparently, it is now the answer to the question, “What do you get when you cross a European with a Democrat?”

According to The Telegraph, EU Parliamentarians can earn millions in profits and have been remiss in paying their taxes. EXCERPT:

Mr. [Matthew] Elliott [Chief Executive of Taxpayers Alliance] said each MEP could save more than £1 million from their expenses and pension benefits over a five-year term at the European Parliament.

Over five years, each MEP can claim this includes a subsistence allowance of 117,000 Euros, staff allowance of 489,840 Euros, office expenses of 243,120 Euros, travel expenses of 60,000 Euros and an accrued pension of £350,000.

This does not include the MEP salary of £63,291, which is set to increase to £73,584 after the European Parliament elections in June 2009.

There was also widespread failure to comply with tax, company and social security laws. Nearly 80 per cent of transactions that should have been subject to VAT displayed no evidence of either VAT payment or exemption.

In his report, Mr. [Robert] Galvin [EU internal audit official] found that overpayments of parliamentary allowances were common.

Now remember, “It couldn’t happen here!”

Wow, Some “Moderate” He Turned Out To Be!

Radical Yes, Moderate No

Do you all remember the 2008 U.S. Senate campaign in Virginia? OK, would you rather not remember? Do you all remember how Mark Warner characterized himself as the “radical moderate?” Let’s recall how the Washington Post said that Mark Warner would “carry on John Warner's legacy of nonpartisan pragmatism.” EXCERPT:

Voters also must choose a candidate who can grasp the nuances of erratic financial markets and who will bring a deft touch to the difficult decisions that will determine the country's fiscal future. By these criteria -- and many others -- the choice between two ex-governors is clear. One candidate, Democrat Mark R. Warner (no relation to John), is a successful entrepreneur who rescued Virginia from insolvency by streamlining government while modestly raising taxes -- and still left office with an approval rating above 70 percent. The other, Republican James S. Gilmore III., is an unapologetic, not very thoughtful partisan whose reckless tax cuts nearly drove Virginia to financial ruin. We endorse Mr. Warner without reservations.

Of course, the Post was lying about Gilmore driving Virginia to financial ruin. What is so interesting, though, is the Post’s praise for Warner’s “deft touch.” Wow, did the Post notice the “stimulus bill” that was just signed by President Obama? I think that spending over a trillion dollars (including interest), most of it on pork, is anything but a deft touch! Even better from the Post endorsement:

His success was based in part on his business-like reform of state government, especially the transportation department, and in part on his willingness to listen to all players, from either party and every region of the state.

Okaaaay! So how does increasing the government’s interference in health care markets and forcing expensive unionization of Federal spending comport with “business-like” reform? Given the massive skepticism of this spending bill (with most people saying that it will either hurt the economy or do no good), how was Warner listening to all players?

Clearly, we have quick proof that Mark Warner is just another spendthrift leftist who would say anything to get elected. He may be riding high now, but we all remember that Chuck Robb did so also. Maybe Warner (along with Jim Webb) will learn the same lesson.

What Does “Shovel Ready” Mean?

Digging for the Truth

Popular Mechanics has an interesting article concerning the meaning of “shovel ready,” and how little economic “stimulus” these projects really provide. EXCERPT:

So what exactly is a shovel-ready project? As the Washington Post recently pointed out, the term “shovel-ready” may have been introduced in the 1990s by New York-based electric utility Niagara-Mohawk Power, which later became National Grid (it is the current owner of the URL shovelready.com). There are no specific parameters or requirements that define shovel readiness. But according to civil engineers, the idea behind this new buzzword could help scuttle the stimulus bill’s highly publicized, though secondary, goal of infrastructure reform. At issue is that 90-day restriction stipulated by Congress, an even narrower window than the bill’s original 180-day limit. “They’re well intentioned, and they know their infrastructure sucks, so they’re trying to do immediate reactive management to what is a very deep, endemic problem,” says Robert Bea, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. “If you want to patch some potholes in the road, this is a good program. But if you’re hoping for anything long-term with this approach, throw away all hope. It can’t happen.”

I am not saying that more ambitious road and bridge projects (maintenance or construction) are unworthy. However, these projects take a lot of time in terms of manpower, material acquisition, project management, etc. Regulatory hurdles also exist to make even the most successful road or bridge project happen. (Witness how long it’s taken to get the Wilson Bridge Project or the Intercounty Connector started.) I’ve actually taken some courses in project management, and believe me, implementing PM concepts is very difficult in the private sector. In the government, success varies widely, but it is quite haphazard.

Even the most “shovel ready” projects could still face opposition. I’ve actually seen environmentalist complaints concerning the smallest paving projects, with claims that runoff from tar and asphalt harms streams.

Of course, most of the “stimulus" has nothing to do with immediate projects that can be accomplished quickly or create a lot of jobs. It’s all about repaying rent-seeking constituencies that support the Democratic Party.

Barack the Plumber

I got the following cartoon from "Americans for Limited Government."

Spreading the Wealth

Plumbing the Obama Tax Hike

Wealth
Uploaded by luvnews

A plumber has figured out that Obama’s tax plan will raise his taxes and confronts Barack Obama about it.. Transcript (hat tip to The Corner at NRO):

"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

My wife and I heard the excerpt this morning. Her reaction was that maybe Senator Obama can take some of the money he is spending on his daughters’ posh private schools (which I am estimating is at least $30,000 per year) and spread some of that wealth around! She then proceeded to explain Obama’s destructive tax hikes to our seven-year-old son. He understood pretty well, I am proud to say.

What gets me is the fact that Obama didn’t try to deny anything. Didn’t he and/or Joe Biden claim in the debates that very few small businesses would be affected by the taxes on small businesses? Here is one plumber who has figured out that the tax burden would be increased! Clearly, Obama’s tax plan (assuming the Democrats in Congress don’t make taxes even higher) will affect several small businesses, whether they be plumbers, accountants, asphalt pavers, lawyers, doctors, etc.

As our Marxist friends like to tell us, "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need." I hope John McCain throws some “cold water” on the Obama business tax plans in the upcoming debate.

There’s a Hole in the Budget, Dear Marky, Dear Marky

Where Have All the Taxes Gone?

The Right Wing Liberal has a fantastic analysis of what happened with the revenue that came to the Commonwealth of Virginia after the sales tax hike of 2004. Then Governor Mark Warner, with the help of General Assembly Democrats and enough left-leaning Republicans, achieved enough of a majority to raise the Virginia sales from 4.5% to 5%. Of course, at the time, we were all told how the money was needed for road construction, for schools, etc.

Of course, this failed to happen, and the jurisdiction that pays the most, Fairfax County, got penalized the most. Instead, most of the money was used for the expansion of various social programs. If the money were used more efficiently, services would have been delivered more efficiently to those who needed them, we would have had money for roads, and we still would not have needed the sales tax increase!

Once again, this serves as a warning to people in other States. I know that Maryland and New Jersey raised their sales taxes recently. Don’t you wonder where all that money is really going also?